How To Get Rid Of Mice

Mouse squeaking.(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

My unintentional solution to how to get rid of mice would have been hilarious if it wasn’t so gross.

I’m not the kind of person to go squealing away or jumping up in chairs when I see something like a mouse, spider or snake. But, when I noticed mouse droppings in my pantry, and little chew marks in some cardboard boxes, there was a serious “yuck factor.” I couldn’t bear the thought of some little wild critter, infested with all kinds of parasites, peeing or pooping all over my counters, pantry and food. Mice can spread all kinds of diseases, like salmonellosis, Lyme disease, rickettsialpox, and many others.

I donned gloves and a mask and attacked the pantry, searching through everything for any traces of mouse activity. Cans were okay, as long as I washed them before I opened them. Any boxes or bags that had chew marks were thrown away. After a lot of work and sorting, I had a couple of garbage bags full of food that was either contaminated or possibly contaminated, and it made me angry to have to throw out that much food. I knew how I’d get rid of the mice. I washed my hands and made a phone call to a professional wildlife removal company. Let them chase down and get rid of every mouse. I have enough work on my hands with all this cleaning.

I put on a new pair of gloves and a mask and worked to sanitize the shelves and floor. Hey, I needed to clean out the pantry anyway, I thought to myself, trying to find the silver lining. The kitchen countertops were full of the food I figured was okay. I’d even found an old bottle of honey with just a little bit of honey in the bottom. I’d put it upside-down in a juice glass to let the honey out.

As I finished sanitizing the pantry, I figured I would sweeten some tea with the honey and wait for the wildlife removal expert to arrive. I turned to reach for the honey and that’s when I saw it. One of the mice was bold enough to come out in the kitchen while I was working, attracted by the food set out on the counter. Its tail got stuck in the honey that had leaked out into the juice glass, and it couldn’t run away. It was the craziest thing! Of course, its little paws couldn’t get enough purchase on the granite countertop for it to pull itself free, so there it sat. Its tail looped up into glass, its nose quivering with the scent of all that food, every now and then trying to run, but with no luck.

As I said, it would have been hilarious, but I had just spent a long time cleaning up after it and throwing my food out. My sense of humor was a little frayed, but I did appreciate the irony. So did the guy who came out to get rid of the mice from my house.